Knowledge and Technology Transfer in the Age of Enlightenment: The Scientific Correspondence between Franciszek Bieliński (1683-1766) and Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782)

Abstract

the scientific life in mid-seventeenth-century europe was characterised by numerous academies of sciences and scientific associations whose aim was to propagate the development of the sciences, art and literature. some have called it “the new Age of Academies all over europe”. these institutions brought together not only educated professionals but also a large number of amateur scientists. they called for the deliberate abandonment of verbal dispute in favour of visual demonstration/experimentation, and for the creation of paid scientific professionals who would devote their full time to the enterprise. these scientists conducted numerous experiments, the results of which were demonstrated at academic sessions. Franciszek Bieliński became Grand Marshal of the Crown in 1742. During the many years of his public service, he aimed to improve the well-being of Warsaw inhabitants, especially by paving the streets and creating a modern sewerage system. in the light of recent scholarly studies, Franciszek Bieliński is perceived as a figure of very wide horizons, striving to join the Parisian academic scientific discourse in order to transfer knowledge and technology to Poland. Bieliński exchanged letters with the eminent member and three-time president of the Paris Academy of sciences (1666–1803), Henri louis Duhamel du monceau, who among numerous other projects tested new methods of horticulture, agriculture and forestry. The article aims to discuss the scientific research undertaken by Bieliński in regards to technology transfer in the area of agriculture, on the basis of unanalysed documents. recently found correspondence shows that Grand